Musical Dice -- My Craps Blog

     Yes, this is the first article I put out in about four months. But I believe this new strategy, which I call the Fibonacci Freeroll Strategy, is a real good one.

     Yes, I'd taken a hiatus from gambling for the past two months. But my wife and I plan to go to Las Vegas from March 26th to the 31st. I plan to have those results on this blog. I also hope to bring a special surprise to this blog, as a result of this trip. All I can say, is stay tuned! ☺

     I am very excited to be unveiling a whole new look for this website. Basically, I added a lot more pictures, converted the HTML files to PHP, which is more dynamic, and was able to bring in my own custom page hit counters, instead of having to use those from a third party, which to me always looked absolutely hideous.

     I am also excited to be going to Vegas tomorrow for five days! This is the first real trip I've done this year (I'm not even counting that Lake Charles trip back in January). I definitely plan to play some craps, and hopefully use some of my newer strategies. I'm also hoping to bring a surprise or two to this blog, regarding this trip. All I can say, is stay tuned! ☺

     The analogy I'm making with this trip is to when singer/songwriter Billy Joel recorded his 1986 album The Bridge, he gave it that name because of his collaborations with other artists on the album (he had a duet with Ray Charles on the album, as well as another song which Cyndi Lauper did backup vocals, and yet another track that featured keyboards by Steve Winwood). Here on this trip, more than any other. my wife and I interacted and did things with other people, or created bridges between us and them. Hence, the title of this trip.

     This Vegas is kind of a belated birthday present for me. I wanted to come out here on March 23rd, which is my actual birthday, but due to a prior commitment my wife had, we couldn't make it out here until March 26th. We both were excited to start this trip, our first casino trip in 2½ months.

     Today, we took the early flight out of Houston, and got to our hotel, the Plaza casino, at about 8:15 a.m. We got an upgrade to a suite. which was very nice. We rested there for a few hours.

     The gambling started off at the Plaza, where I played craps. I debuted a new crape strategy, the Fibonacci Freeroll strategy. Here, I used $25 units on the Pass Line, got to 4 units ahead, and played with 2 of those units. During the time that I was getting to 4 units ahead, I shot the dice -- there weren't that many players at the table, and that fact influenced me to do this strategy from the Pass Line, instead of the Don't Pass Line. I shot 9 times from Stick Left 1, using the Hardway dice set. I made my goal, while still shooting. From there, I changed to only a $10 Pass Line bet, with a $5 Whirl bet. I then did 34 inside, leaving me with $51 profit, if nothing else. I did crap out immediately after I started playing on casino money, so that's all that win was. Oh well, a win is a win.

     From there, we went to the New York New York casino to have lunch. I had two Nathan's hot dogs (this seems to be a traditional first meal for me in Vegas), while my wife opted for a slice of pizza. She was appalled at how much ONE slice cost--$15, which was almost as much as I paid for both hot dogs and a drink. And the slice of pizza wasn't even all that good! I think she wished she'd stuck with the classic, like I did.

     From there, we walked over to the Excalibur, where I got into a craps game. This table was a $15 table, and I once again tried the Fibonacci Freeroll strategy, but with $50 units from the Pass Line. Admittedly, I deviared from the strategy, when I made a couple of Place bets on what SEEMED like a hot shooter. But almost as soon as i did, seven-out! To make matters worse, I started getting into trouble with this strategy of mine, when I crapped out after 3 rolls, and I had to raise my Pass Line bet up to $100, and the next shooter's point was a four! Things didn't look too good for me at that point, but fortunately, the shooter made the 4, and I got the money back. I was slightly ahead at that point, and I stopped betting until it was my shoot again. This time, I was once again at Stick Left 1, and I used the Hardway dice set. I had a $20 Pass Line bet, along with 4 units on the insides. I shot 11 times this time, just enough to win enough to cover the bets, and add to my profit margin a little. I left the table $45 ahead. Again, a win's still a win.

     We then walked over to the Tropicana. My initial intention was to play blackjack first, and then play craps. However the dealer's bad attitude really soured my mood over there. The issues were, since I'm visually impaired, I have to have the dealer read out her top card to me, but the dealer pretended like she didn't hear me. Plus, when I was doubling down on a hand, she jumped down my throat for apparently doing it in such a manner that I'd briefly covered my initial bet. Neither my wife, nor I took kindly to that. We left that table after only two rounds. Fortunately, I'd profited $50 in those two rounds.

     One thing my wife wanted to do is visit the Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio casino. So that's the next thing we did. My wife really enjoyed the plant and flower arrangements. Being visually impaired, I didn't see nearly the rich detail she did, and thus, this wasn't as enjoyable for me, but I'm glas my wife had a great tine. One thing both of us liked, was how friendly a number of other people were, and how they were happy to take our pictures with either clower arrangements or statues being the backdrops for the photos. I didn't think of gambling there because, among other things, I was getting pretty worn out, and I needed a rest to re-charge.

     We then went back to the Plaza, and crashed for a few hours. I don't think either of us realized how tired we really were after our flight out here.

     We went to the Fremont casino, first to have dinner at Tony Roma's. The beef ribs I had were great. My wife enjoyed her food too.

     From there, I went to the craps table. Once again, I did my Fibonacci Freeroll strategy. This time, I was using $50 units on a $15 table. I had gotten so close to achieving my goal, having gotten 3 units ahead. I needed just one more unit to make my goal, at which point, I was going to play with 2 of the units. But before I could win that fourth unit, the dice turned ice cold, and my strategy was losing. Worse yet, my shoots from the end were not happening, and that was the case whether I used the Yo-Yo dice set, or the 3V dice set (for me, that would be the 4/6-4/2 dice set). After trying other ways to get un-stuck, without success, I left the table $625 down. The blow was somewhat lessened by a friendly thirty-something-looking black woman at the craps table, chatting with me about things craps-related. She left the table for another craps table when things went south at this table.

     FORTUNATELY, my luck changed for the better at the blackjack table, although at one point, I was really teetering on the edge of disaster, in danger of losing the rest of my $1000 buy-in (at one point, I only had one 25-dollar chip left, in addition to the bets I placed for that round). But in the end, I won $626 at the blackjack table. Yes, that meant a profit at the Fremont of ONE MEASLY BUCK. But again, a win is a win.

     When my wife and I went to the cage to cash out my chips, I saw the woman from the craps table already there, with her significant other. We were happy to learn that the other had gotten his/her money back.

     We then went to Ellis Island for karaoke. There, I sang "Beautiful Sunday" by Daniel Boone, "Love On The Rocks" by Neil Diamond, and "Unchain My Heart" as done by Joe Cocker. I was surprised at the great response I got for the first song (in spite of messing up on the last two verses), but by far, the best response was for the last song. One of the others in the lounge even complimented me for the Neil Diamond song. My wife and I both had a great time.

     A side note on that: I had intended to sing "Sunday And Me" by Jay & the Americans, instead of the Daniel Boone song. The dee-jay greatly enjoyed my selections, plus he really liked my musical trivia (I told him that "Sunday And Me" was the first hit song Neil Diamond ever wrote). Big shout-out to Josh, the karaoke dee-jay!

     There would be no more gambling for the first day. For after we got back from karaoke, we were REALLY ready to crash. But even though my gambling wins for this first day only added up to a mere $147, I'll take that over a losing day, any day. I look at it this way: If I do nothing else on this Vegas trip, I still did a hell of a lot better than my trip to Lake Charles back in January, where I lost over $2500 on the trip. Which would you rather have?

     Today, I was hoping to keep the win streak up, and maybe get some larger wins in the process.

     The first thing my wife and I did was have breakfast at this breakfast diner just a short drive from the Plaza, called Eats. We'd been there once before, nearly two years ago, and the food was great.

     From there, we went to the Paris casino. There, I first got into a blackjack game, where while my wife and I chatted with two others at the table, it was clear I wasn't going to stay there long, for they didn't know how to play. The moment I got my money back, plus $30, I left the table.

     I then got onto a $15 craps table. I used my Fibonacci Freeroll strategy, but took the money and ran when I got to two 50-dollar wins. The reason why I left before I could shoot, was, I felt it important at the time, to lock up my biggest win of the trip so far. So I left the table $100 ahead, and $130 ahead for the casino session. I was planning to go further with this strategy the next time I play craps.

     When I got to the Venetian, I was focused on playing 3/5 No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em. Maybe I should have played craps first, while my wife was out getting her nails done. At any rate, my win streak snapped, for I lost $423 at the table, which I suspect was full of pros, plus I didn't pick up many good cards.

     When my wife got back, we had a late lunch at our pizza place at the food court, still at the Venetian. It was there, that a friend of the family, the same one that we'd hung out with last time, for most of the day, called, and invited us over to her house. She wanted us to meet two of her friends. So we went straight there from the Venetian.

     It was great to see Marilyn again. Shortly after we got there, her other guests, Marie, and her daughter Chantel arrived.

     The reason why Marilyn wanted us to meet Marie and Chantel, was because Chantel's name is pronounced the same as my wife's (which is spelled Shawntel). Both Chantel and Shawntel have husbands named John!! And what's more, Chantel likes to sing karaoke like me, and she bible journals like my wife. Needless to say, we'll be keeping in contact with her!

     We had fun at Marilyn's but from a gambling pperspective, this unexpected change of plans shot the rest of my day straight to hell! It was late when we got back to the Plaza. I only had the energy for one more session before turning in for the night.

     I tried to get into a craps game, but the one open craps table was full. So my last game of the day was blackjack. After a mighty struggle, I got my money back plus $50. Overall, I ended up losing $243 for the day, and down $96 thus far for the trip. More tomorrow.

     Those of you familiar With Jefferson Starship will recognize the play on words here. It indeed felt like a grind, battling to get back into the black for this trip. But I'm glad I was able to do it.

     My wife and I went out to the Green Valley Ranch this morning. We first had breakfast in a restaurant in the casino, and the breakfast was delicious.

     From there, I went to the craps table (while my wife chatted with our friends from the night before). I did the Fibonacci Freeroll strategy, making it to 4 $50 units ahead before playing with 2 of those units. But the moment I switched strategies was when the shooter crapped out. No matter. I still won $106 at the table.

     I added $25 to that, playing blackjack, after a very dramatic session where I fought back from a near-disaster to get my money back and get the win. Overall, I won $131 for this session, enough to get back in the positive for this trip, albeit by only $35.

     From there, we went to the Red Rock casino. This time, I played poker there, instead of just walking around, like we did last time six months ago. While I did this, my wife went shopping. Unfortunately, the cards weren't nice to me again, and I lost $328. So much for that pretty idea!

     We ate dinner at the Chophouse Steakhouse. The meal was superb, and the staff there was really nice. In fact, I got a rather pleasant surprise with a creme brule for a birthday cake, with a candle on it. I think my wife told the staff that my birthday was five days earlier, so this was their birthday surprise. I loved it. It helped take the sting out of that poker loss.

     After all that, we returned to the Plaza, and got some rest.

     From there. we went back to the Fremont, where I got on to a crowded craps table. This time, I didn't try for 4 $50 units ahead before playing with casino's money with the Fibonacci Freeroll strategy, but did that after getting 3 units ahead. This time, the shooter had a decent rally. and I was cutting up for a while. I ended up $189 ahead for the session.

     Upon returning to the Plaza, I was thinking, "I'm now only down $104. Let me see if I can erase that deficit."

     I first went to a craps table where I was the only shooter. I even used the Fibonacci strategy on myself. I had two shoots, shooting about 10 each time, using the Hardway dice set from Stick Left 1. I had parlayed my winnings to 2 units ahead, before losing one back when I crapped out. I decided not to go for more, and left the table $50 ahead.

     I then went to a blackjack table, and played one round only, having two bets of $50 each. When the dealer busted, I knew what I was going to do. The dealer and the pit boss both thought I had flipped when I immediately colored up after winning that $100. They had no idea that I was just trying to get myself out of a hole, which I'd succeded in doing for the second time today. That $150 win at the Plaza got me up for the trip $46. Even with the poker loss, I won a net of $142 for the day. What a grind that was!

     There were some things I didn't mention yesterday, which were tied into the big surprise of this trip. But now, I can reveal the big surprise of the trip, for it's happened, and I wasn't sure it would.

     Here goes: The big surprise of this trip was that I got to meet Bryan, the brains and founder of Hawaii Craps Shooters! Over the past three years or so, Bryan has put out some awesome content, and I found a lot of his videos to be entertaining and informative. I was honored to finally meet him. He is a really cool guy, and a highly skilled craps shooter and player.

     What I had left out on Day 3 was the fact that we kept missing each other. My wife and I went to Green Valley Ranch where I knew he was going to be filming, but I didn't know what time. The filming actually took place while my wife had our dinner reservations at Red Rock. We tried to meet at the Fremont, but missed each other again. Finally, this morning after 6 am, we finally did meet. We talked for a little while, and then started to play (I was already there when he arrived). Bryan even gave me a Hawaii Craps Shooters chip, which looks so cool.

     The craps session itself was great. Prior to Bryan arriving, I had done the Fibonacci Freeroll strategy, but pulled out of it early, being up a little bit when Bryan arrived. I shot the dice, and he saw me shoot 18 times (026 123 31), from Stick Right 1 (a position I almost never do well at), using the Hardway dice set, making a point of 10 in the process. But since I was playing my strategy, and not on casino's money, I really only broke even on my roll. After I crapped out, Bryan rolled. The first four rolls were all seven-winners, which was great for me, since I was playing the Fibonacci Freeroll strategy from the Pass Line, and those four rolls put me up by four units, and it was then that I played on casino money with two of the units. Bryan shot 20 or 21 times, and when he crapped out, I colored up $370 ahead. That was by far the biggest win I had at the Fremont, plus it was the biggest win so far on this trip. Also my 18-roll was by far the best roll I ever had at the Fremont. Needless to say when my wife and I left the Fremont for breakfast at the Plaza, I was all smiles.

     After a most delicious breakfast at Hash-A-Go-Go, in the Plaza, my wife and I went back up to our room to rest. In fact, we rested so long that by the time we were up and moving again, it was time for lunch. We went to the Venetian, and at at Panda Express this time. The food was good.

     Then I played craps at a $25 table, still at the Venetian. I was the only player at that table, and I only had a mediocre shoot. However, it was enough to win $50 using my Fibonacci strategy, due to a couple of seven-winners on the come-out. I was at Stick Left 1, using the Hardway dice set. I decided not to go any further after I crapped out.

     From there, my wife and I went to Caesar's Palace. I first got into a blackjack game, where I won a quick $50. I didn't stay long because there was this guy there who didn't know what he was doing, and unlike craps, how you play affects everybody else at the table.

     Then I played craps at a $25 table, still at Caesar's. This time, I played the Fibonacci Freeroll strategy, switching to playing on casino money, once I got 3 units ahead. I was the shooter at this point, and from Stick Left 1, I used the Hardway dice set. Fueled by a couple of come-out Whirl bet wins, I ended up $151 ahead at the craps table, shooting a 13 in the process. My win for this casino session was $201. At this point, I was $667 ahead for the trip.

     However, the bubble burst when I next played at the Flamingo.

     There, the Fibonacci strategy went bad. I think if I'd played it from the Don'ts instead, it might have worked. I was up one unit before the dice went south. After losing my $250 Pass Like bet (Level 4 of 5 in the Fibonacci strategy), I left, down $500. As I later told Bryan, I could have gone one more level, betting $400 on it, but at that point, I was more concerned with staying ahead for the trip. I still was up $167 for the trip.

     After a loss, I usually try to take a break from the action, which is what my wife and I did, once we returned to the Plaza.

     My wife had her mind set on a Chinese food restaurant at the Golden Nugget, but when we got there, the place was closed! So we went across the way to the Fremont to eat at Tony Roma's.

     Quite surprisingly, before my wife and I made it to Tony Roma's, we ran into Bryan at the craps table. We didn't play with him this time, for we were both hungry. But we had a nice conversation, during which I told him about what happened at the Venetian, Caesar's, and the Flamingo. He mentioned bankroll management, which is something he talks about on his Hawaii Craps Shooters YouTube channel. Bryan also mentioned that he'd won two hats at the Fremont (awarded to shooters who shoot at least 25 times), the first one being just after I'd left this morning. Oh man! One of the disadvantages of being a hit-and-run gambler, which I am most of the time.

     Purely by accident, we ran into Bryan one more time, when we went back to Golden Nugget, this time to play some craps. Bryan, apparently, was at the end of a 20-or-so-shoot, and by the time I got in, it didn't help, for Bryan crapped out before I could get my money back. Worse yet, I tried my Fibonacci strategy from the Pass Line, and that was a disaster. I think, especially after that long roll Bryan had, I would have been better off if I'd played it from the Don'ts instead. Anyway the session was a long exhausting one, during which I got part of my money back, but ultimately, I ended up losing $561.

     Overall, I ended up losing $440 for the day, and as of now, I'm down $394 for the trip. But there is tomorrow.

     Apparently, a late-March day in Las Vegas where the daytime high is only in the mid-50's is very unusual. Unfortunately, the day's cold weather mirrored most of the tables I played on today.

     As opposed to yesterday, my wife and I slept in today. We didn't get started until about mid-day. I was really hoping I could start the day fresh, and win back the money I lost yesterday.

     I went to the craps table, playing the Fibonacci strategy. After losing the first four levels, I abandoned the strategy, after which I had a decent shoot to partially get my money back. But after a quick next roll, I decided to take the $270 loss, and try to win it back at the blackjack table, since that worked at the Fremont the first night. No such luck today. I lost an additional $287.50 playing blackjack.

     After having Nathan's hot dogs for lunch at the New York New York, I decided to play the game that I'd lose the slowest at, which to my wife's surprise, was poker. I decided to play it back at the Venetian, and play it at a level where I'd never lost at there -- 2/4 No-Limit Hold 'Em. Surprisingly, after 2 hours, I won $203. At least I know I can still play poker. I even added $25 to that at a blackjack table. That game me SOME hope that maybe...

     The last casino I played at was the Paris casino, where both blackjack and craps were nice to me on Day 2. But both were not nice to me today. I first played blackjack, and lost $450 in near-record time; the cards were so bad. The dice weren't much better at the craps table. There, I didn't even play the Fibonacci strategy, and my shoots weren't good. After three short shoots, and losing another $343 at the craps table, I declared myself all gambled out.

     Overall, I ended up losing $1516.50 on this trip, the majority of which came on the last day. But I still enjoyed myself. Karaoke the first night was fun. Hanging out with Marilyn, Marie, and Chantel was great too. For me, the highlight of the trip was meeting and playing craps with Bryan at the Fremont. Apparently, the $370 win I had there was the best of the whole trip. Maybe next time.

     And it now looks like that next time will be back in Lake Charles. For after my wife and I left the Venetian, we made reservations to stay at L'Auberge for two complimentary nights April 10-12. I hope to have better results than this time in Vegas (although really I didn't lose as much in Vegas as I did in Lake Charles back in January).